Supply Chain Management Asset and Security
The flow of assets
throughout the supply chain requires various systems that enable the geo-location
and the status of the assets. Supply chain management typically focuses and
prioritizes efficiency for asset and product movement flow. For example, for perishables in the cold
supply chain, operators focus on temperature integrity of these assets. This
means that supply chain operators are mainly concerned on logging temperatures
and monitoring the histogram for the temperature variations as the product moves
from manufacturer to distribution center, and from distribution center to final
destination. In practical terms, depending on how sophisticated the supply
chain operations are, there may be some particular interest on monitoring
specific key performance indicators. In the case of the cold chain, there may
be primary parameters of interest, such as: time it took for the product to be
staged, loaded, and exposed to ambient temperature; and identifying products
that recorded temperatures outside the acceptable range while in transit.
Tracking product lots and batches for recall and reverse logistics is another
step for mitigating safety issues. This is an example where the main focus of
the supply chain management is the efficient transport, movement, and logistics
of products for keeping the asset’s temperature integrity within acceptable
range.
For other types of products
and assets, the scope goes beyond efficiency for the supply chain operation
by adding material security as an operational driver and supply chain
measurement of performance. Security, in the context of supply chain security,
means that as the asset flows through the supply chain, the integrity of the
asset is kept intact. In some cases, this implies two different variables in
the tracking of the asset: 1) method for knowing where that asset is and where
the asset has been (track and trace) and 2) whether the asset's integrity markings
indicate if it has been maintained or not, meaning is the asset being altered,
counterfeited, or replaced by a copy. For the former point above, supply chain
management registers the location of the assets in lots, or sets of products. In
theory, if at each point of the supply chain, the lot of the products is registered, then
the supply chain manager will be able to pin point its location as the assets
flow through the chain. For the latter however, unless there is secure marking
that protects the integrity of the product, the supply chain manager cannot
guarantee asset or product integrity.
It's only at destination where the end-user or recipient of the products,
or assets, can determine its integrity. For instance, SICPA is a company that
fully develops a complete portfolio of solutions for addressing asset integrity
and protection for fulfilling the needs of all relevant stakeholders in the
supply chain, including end-user stakeholders. The question is how to balance
the need of efficiency and security as the product travels through the supply
chain? There is a set of recommendations
and best practices that can be implemented to answer this question:
1) Asset integrity can be improved if the assets
are serialized with a unique ID (UID) managed by a centralized database.
Product serialization means that each asset or product is uniquely identified
(UID) and marked. In some manufacturing environments this is a challenge,
however, this is also a best practice to enable product and asset integrity. An
example of a company that addresses product serialization is Zebra Technologies
with a full portfolio of products that include bar-coding and Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID). Supply chain operators can reap efficiency for
tracking product movement, while making serialized assets more difficult to compromise
in the verification process, against a database of the manufacturer's
production system. If the asset is damaged it's a straight forward operation
tracking and tracing it for recall and marking the geographic location. If multiple
illicit copies, with the same UID, are scanned for verification purposes, then
the operator can flag the asset in the database and blacklist it for recall or
reporting it to the corresponding task-force.
2) Asset integrity is fully covered if the product
or asset is dressed with material security and a robust security marker. The
end-user or final recipient can authenticate the product or asset based on the
test results of the marker. Depending of the type of product, the secure marker
can be overt: meaning that the end user can visually authenticate the product.
One example of overt security features consist of the use of security inks with
unique properties that cannot be copied, such as optically variable inks that
shows different color depending on the angle of view of the marking. This is a property
of the ink that cannot be photocopied by commercial means. Semi-covert security
features are not conspicuous material markers that may require the aid of tool
for authentication. For instance, micro-text is small text, where the end-user
requires a loupe or similar visual aid to authenticate the feature that cannot
be photocopied. Ultra-violet (UV) inks are also in this category, using a UV
light source that matches the UV ink’s wavelength as to reveal the secure mark.
Lastly, covert security features can consist of proprietary forensic markers
that can only be authenticated via forensic lab or by the manufacturer of the
assets and security marker itself. This
feature is fully invisible to the counterfeiter and only the producer of the
asset can authenticate with dedicated tools. There are many other marking
security features that can vary by type and vendors with patented technologies.
A good practice is having the asset to feature
all three types of security in combination as security layers. This enables
different economic operators of the supply chain to perform a form of
authentication according to where is the asset in the supply chain, while
dramatically increasing the difficulty for compromising the assets, or
deterring illicit reproduction of assets by the counterfeiter, to render the illegal
reproduction of assets as uneconomical as possible.
As a best practice for
enabling security for supply chain management and asset integrity implies the
use of asset serialization and secure material marking of assets. In combination,
both features enable efficiency and security in the flow of assets throughout
the supply chain. One common misconception is that serialization and
verification of unique serial number is authentication. Verification is not
authentication since assets and products can be attacked by illicit replication
including the serial number or UID. With the lack of secure material marking of
the asset or product, the end-user cannot easily distinguish between an
original and a copy regardless of the serial number verification results,
although duplicate verification may indicate the potential copy of assets or
products. Material authentication in
layers with overt, semi-covert, and covert markings, make it very difficult for
the counterfeiters to produce the copy of an asset. Depending on the value of the
asset, is up to the supply chain operation managers to decide the level of
investment for the level of sophistication for serialization and material marking.
Regardless, it’s recommended that both, serialization and secure marking are seriously
considered on a case by case basis to enable efficiency and security for the
supply chain.
